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Substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) to microstrip transition at X-Band

Conference Paper · February 2014

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 Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Circuits, Systems and Control

Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) to Microstrip

Transition at X-Band

Muhammad Imran Nawaz, Zhao Huiling Muhammad Kashif

Northwestern Polytechnical University NESCOM
Xi’an, Shaanxi, China. Islamabad, Pakistan

Abstract— Substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) is a new

form of transmission line. It facilitates the realization of non-
planar (waveguide based) circuits into planar form for easy
integration with other planar (microstrip) circuits and systems.
This paper describes the design of an SIW to microstrip
transition. The transition is broadband covering the frequency
range of 8 – 12GHz. The measured in-band insertion loss is below
0.6dB while the return loss is less than 10dB. The circuit is
simulated in HFSS and results are measured on vector network
analyzer (VNA).

Keywords— Microstrip; Substrate Integrated Waveguide;

Transition

I. INTRODUCTION
Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) technology has
provided a new approach in the design of microwave and
millimeter-wave systems. It is replacing the traditional hybrid
systems which are combination of both waveguides and
stripline circuits. Using SIW, rectangular waveguide based
non-planar circuits can be synthesized into planar form with a
dielectric substrate having two parallel arrays of via-holes
analogous to waveguide metallic side walls. The whole
systems, combination of passive components (filters, couplers,
diplexers, mixers etc), active elements (amplifiers, oscillators
etc) and antennas can be made on same substrate. Two such
systems, 24GHz radar and 60GHz active radio front-end are
reported in [1]. The SIW based systems have several
advantages: 1) Cost effective, 2) Easy to fabricate, 3) No
bulky transitions between elements, thus reducing losses and
parasitics, 4) Provide inherent shielding from outer
environment, and 5) Considerably reduce packaging,
EMC/EMI, interconnect and assembly problems that are of
major concern in current microwave and millimeter equipment
and systems.
In HMICs (hybrid microwave integrated circuits), the
transition is an important bridge between non-planar and
planar circuits. This transition is often very costly, bulky in
size and often requires run-time tuning which is a cumbersome
task. The synthesis of a non-planar waveguide in substrate
permits the realization of efficient wideband transitions
between the synthesized non-planar waveguide and planar
circuits such as microstrip and coplanar waveguide (CPW)
integrated circuits. With these transitions, the complexity and
cost of interconnection between non-planar high-Q circuits
and planar circuits are reduced to a minimum [2].
Fig. 1. SIW to Microstrip Transition Design Scheme
This paper presents the design of an SIW to microstrip
transition. The desired band of frequencies is X-band. The
taper line is utilized as impedance transformation between
SIW and 50 ohm microstrip line. The effect of taper line
length is observed on circuit performance. Rogers’s 4350B
substrate having relative permittivity of 3.48, loss tangent
0.0037 and 0.762 mm height is preferred because of its
rigidity [8].
The remaining paper is organized as follows. The
theoretical design of transition is discussed in section II. In
section III modeling and simulation of transition is described
while circuit fabrication and results are discussed in section
IV. The work is finally concluded in section V.
II. DESIGN DESCRIPTION
The SIW to Microstrip transition consists of two parts; one
is SIW part and the other is microstrip part as shown in Fig 1.
The design of each part involves specific equations and design
criteria which is briefly discussed in the subsequent
paragraphs.
A. SIW Design
The substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) is sort of a
guided transmission line just like a dielectric filled rectangular
waveguide. Its dominant mode cut-off frequency is same as
TE10 mode of rectangular waveguide. The only difference is
that the metallic walls are replaced by two parallel arrays of
conductive via holes. The key parameters of SIW design are
spacing between the vias “P” also called pitch, diameter of

ISBN: 978-1-61804-216-3 61
 Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Circuits, Systems and Control

vias “D”, central distance between via arrays “Ar” also called
integrated waveguide width, and the equivalent SIW width
“Ae”.
The SIW parameters should be designed carefully. The
pitch “P” and diameter “D” control the radiation loss and
return loss, while the integrated waveguide width “A r”
determine the cut-off frequency and propagation constant of
the fundamental mode [3]. There are two design rules related
to the pitch and via diameter as given by [4]:
B. Microstrip Part Design
The microstrip portion consists of series combination of
quarter-wave tapered transformer and a 50 ohm track as
shown in Fig 1. The transformer transforms the SIW
impedance to the standard 50 ohm microstrip impedance. The
50 ohm track is added for interconnection of the I/O
connectors. The key design parameters in this part are the
length of tapered line “L” and width “W” of the taper at SIW
end.

g The width “W” of taper line can found by solving (6) [7]:
D (1)
5 0.627
r
P  2D (2)  r 1
2

 r 1
12 H
120 4.38 2 1
 e W
Where λg is the guide wavelength in the SIW. W W  Ae
H   1.393  0.667 ln   1.444  
The cut-off frequency of an SIW can be determined by [5]:  H  H 
1
(6)
c  D2  Where  is the free space intrinsic impedance having value
fc   r
A   (3)
2 r  0.95P  377 ohm.
The equation (6) is a complex equation and cannot be solved
Where c is the speed of light in vacuum and εr is the relative analytically. However, it can be solved numerically with the
permittivity of dielectric material. aid of some software e.g. Mathematica.
The equivalent SIW width “Ae” is the width of rectangular The taper length “L” is given by
waveguide whose modes exhibit the same propagation
ng
characteristics of the SIW modes [5]. It can be found by: L , n  1, 2,3, 4...... (7)
4
a and
Ae  (4)
r c
g  (8)
Where “a” is the broadside dimension of an air filled f r
rectangular waveguide as shown in Fig.2. Where f is the design frequency.
Using (4), integrated waveguide width can be found by [6] Using (6), the width of taper comes out be 3.51mm for
0.762mm height of the substrate while using (7) & (8), taper
D2 length is found to be 4.1mm for n=1 at 9.8GHz. The taper
Ar  Ae 
0.95 P (5) length is related to the return loss of the structure which will
be discussed in the next section.
After discussing the design details, next we move onto the
design of an X-band SIW. The WR-90 is the standard X-band III. MODELING AND SIMULATION
rectangular waveguide with dimensions: Due to un-availability of SIW probes currently, its not
possible to test the SIW to microstrip transition. However, if
a= 22.86 mm and b= 10.16mm. two transitions are joined back to back then the structure can
From this using (4), the equivalent SIW width comes out be tested with existing standard instruments. Due to
to be 12.25mm on Roger’s 4350B substrate. The via diameter symmetry, the total insertion loss can simply be halved to get
is chosen to be 0.61mm and pitch chosen as 1.5*D= 0.91mm insertion loss for one transition. Therefore, based on the
following rules (1) & (2). calculations in the previous section, a back-back transitions
structure is modeled in HFSS software as shown in Fig 3.

Fig. 2. Standard Rectangular Waveguide

Fig. 3. Back to Back Transitions Simulation Model

ISBN: 978-1-61804-216-3 62
 Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Circuits, Systems and Control
Fig. 4. Return Loss as a function of Taper Length
It is notable that the length of the taper line controls the
return loss of the structure. It is already mentioned that the
taper length is integer multiple of guided quarter wavelength
λg. Fig. 4 analyzes the effect of taper length on return loss. It
is seen that the return loss improves as the length is 2*quarter
wavelength or 3* quarter wavelength. However, the band
response becomes narrower for higher integer values, so an
optimized value is to be selected according to the
requirements.
IV. FABRICATION AND RESULTS
Fig. 5 shows the picture of the fabricated back-back
transitions structure. SMA connectors are used for the input
and output ports. The vias are filled using Plated Through
Hole (PTH) technique.
The circuit is tested using Vector Network Analyzer
(VNA). The measured results are compared with the
simulation results as shown in Fig. 6. Overall the measured
results are acceptable. The simulated insertion loss for SIW-
to- Microstrip transition is below 0.2dB while the measured
value is below 0.6dB in the whole X-band i.e. 8 – 12GHz. The
measured value of return loss is below 10dB as in simulation,
although the two curves do not follow each other exactly.
Fig. 5. Fabricated Circuit
ISBN: 978-1-61804-216-3
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Fig. 6. Comparison of Simulated and Measured S11 and S21
The discrepancy in the simulated and measured results can be
attributed to the improper filling of via holes, deviation of
dielectric loss tangent of the substrate, and, losses from SMA
connectors and soldering (not considered in simulation).
V. CONCLUSIONS
This paper describes the design of an SIW-to-Microstrip
transition at X-band. The tapered microstrip transmission line
is utilized for matching purposes. The key design parameters
are discussed along with the governing mathematical
equations. The measured insertion loss of transition is below
0.6dB and return loss is below 10dB in the whole band. This
transition is useful for X-band substrate integrated circuits and
systems and also working band can be extended to millimeter
wave frequencies as well.
References
[1] Ke Wu, “Substrate Integrated Circuits (SiCs) – A Paradigm for Future
Ghz and Thz Electronic and Photonic Systems”, IEEE Circuits and
Systems Society Newsletter, Volume 3, Issue 2, April 2009.
[2] Maurizio BOZZI , Luca PERREGRINI, Ke WU and Paolo ARCIONI,
“Current and Future Research Trends in Substrate Integrated
Waveguide Technology”, Radio Engineering, Volume 18, No.2, June
2009.
[3] Dominic Deslandes and Ke Wu, “Single-Substrate Integration
Technique of Planar Circuits and Waveguide Filter”, IEEE Transactions
on Microwave Theory and Techniques, VOL. 51, NO. 2, February
2003.
[4] Dominic Deslandes and Ke Wu, “Design Consideration and
Performance Analysis of Substrate Integrated Waveguide Components”,
Microwave Conference, 2002, 32nd European.
[5] Maurizio Bozzi , Feng Xu, Dominic Deslandes and Ke WU, “Modeling
and Design Considerations for Substrate Integrated Waveguide Circuits
and Components”, TELSIKS 2007, Serbia, Nis, September 26-28.
[6] M. Bozzi, A. Georgiadis and K. Wu, “Review of Substrate Integrated
Waveguide Circuits and Antennas”, Special Issue on RF/Microwave
Communication Subsystems for Emerging Wireless Technologies. 2010.
[7] Dominic Deslandes, “Design Equations for Tapered Microstrip-to-
Substrate Integrated Waveguide Transitions”, IMS 2010.
[8] http://www.rogerscorp.com/documents/726/acm/RO4000-Laminates---
Data-sheet.pdf
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